Search This Blog

Wednesday, April 8

agricultural chemicals and family values

(Apparently these cannot inhabit the same space at the same time, given what follows.)

And as usual, women's reproductive health is the canary in the coal mine.

A study released in 2005 by the Environmental Working Group of the blood taken from 10 umbilical cords revealed an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in each sample. The umbilical cord blood of the 10 children, collected by the Red Cross after the cord was cut, harbored pesticides, consumer product ingredients and wastes from burning coal, gasoline and garbage. Of the total 287 chemicals identified, 180 are carcinogens and 217 are toxic to the nervous system. In addition, 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.

“There is a growing body of evidence linking exposure to different sources of farm chemicals to problems with reproductive health for both men and women,” Steingraber said.

According to Steingraber, the commonly used pesticide methoxyclor has the ability to prevent implantation of an embryo in the uterus.

“When a farm chemical like methoxyclor gets into the body of a woman — and it gets into the body because it is present in the environment in which she lives — then she can abort a pregnancy,” she said. “I think there is room in this debate for a big conversation about these chemicals. We need to talk about farm chemicals as chemical abortionists, or chemicals that have the ability to extinguish human pregnancies.”

So, a pharmacist can refuse to fill a prescription, and that's upholding 'family values' and a whole can of worms that has no place in what amounts to public health issues.

But a woman can live near a farm where some of these chemicals are used, have a hard time getting and staying pregnant, and no one wonders why...

It would be interesting to see the chemical companies get strung up for this one. It's barely even the tip of the iceberg, because those are the chemicals which are still legal for use in this country.

What about the ones being used by banana growers in Honduras, for example? That we manufacture here?